After his grandmother lost her battle with Alzheimer’s disease, genomics industry pro Ardy Arianpour saw firsthand how difficult it is to access and transfer a loved one’s electronic health records. When she died, data siloing and lack of interoperability between systems meant her medical data essentially died with her.

At the time, there wasn’t a way for families to preserve their electronic health data. The technology to create a multigenerational health record didn’t exist, until the company Arianpour cofounded, Sēqster, created a platform that made it possible.    

Similar to the way Intuit’s Mint app consolidates a user’s financial data, Sēqster stores encrypted versions of one’s records—including data from wearable devices like Fitbit and genetic testing services like 23andMe—and displays those metrics in timelines and other trackable ways. The user controls who else, if anyone, has access.

And Sēqster’s Health Trust function allows the user to bequeath their records to predesignated family members or a research organization.

“Once you have all this data in one place, you can do so much,” Arianpour says. “The potential for research-advancing science, from working with various foundations to making the clinical trial process a lot faster, is exponential.”

Sēqster can also be used by caregivers to monitor a loved one’s data. Although it’s not yet available to the public, the platform is already being used by agencies like George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers in Chula Vista. “This convergence of digital health and biotech is the next frontier,” Arianpour says.

Tags: Biotech, Genomics, Health Data, Sēqster, Tip Sheet